And Eggy Makes Five
by GoesKaboom
Summary: When Eggy's mother seemingly takes the family and migrates without him, he joins the penguins. But is there something that Eggy isn't telling? What REALLY happened? Complete.
1. Chapter 1

And Eggy Makes Five

**Note: Blah blah blah, we do this every time. I don't own the _Penguins of Madagascar_, although it would be nice if I did. **

**Warnings: Nothing other than mild action violence later. **

**Dedicated to my late friend, GM: May 1993- August 2010. **

Chapter One

A penguin is supposed to be prepared for anything, or so Skipper always said. Enemies could come from anywhere. Those you'd considered your friends could turn on you at any minute. And a mission gone tragically wrong could reduce the team by one or more members. A penguin was supposed to be ready for anything, and that fall morning, Kowalski left the base for morning patrol thinking he was. Ready for anything, that was. But that day he hadn't been expecting _this_- that morning, the scientifically-minded penguin set out for patrol, not expecting anything to be out of order. He'd gone about one-third of his route when a small lump of old newspaper crumpled under a park bench caught his eye. He was about to engage in Garbage Disposal Maneuver #13 when a very familiar fuzzy yellow thing poked its head out of the paper. Kowalski's beak dropped open.

"Eggy?" he called, running towards the bench. "Eggy? Is that you?" The duckling started, looking as though he was about ready to take off running as fast as he could in the other direction, until he realized who was calling after him. He sighed and shuffled down further into the newspaper.

"Hello sir," Eggy whispered.

"Are you alright? Where's your mother?" Kowalski asked. "You look like you've been here for days! What happened?" Eggy sighed again, this time more heavily.

"I... I don't know, sir," he replied politely. "I woke up a few days ago and she was gone. So were my siblings." Kowalski flipped through the calendar he always carried with him, and then the lightbulb went off. It was autumn. And ducks migrate in the autumn.

"Has your mother been talking about leaving any time soon?" Kowalski asked. Eggy looked up, a strange mixture of confusion and something else that the penguin couldn't identify.

"Leaving?" Eggy asked. "What do you mean?"

"You are a duck." Kowalski always was the master of stating the obvious. "And ducks migrate. Your mom and siblings probably went south for the winter." If Eggy could look more shocked than he did at that moment, Kowalski was certain that the duckling would explode from the intensity of the surprise.

"She _was_ talking about going to Cancun, wherever that is," Eggy replied hesitantly. "Do you think that she'll come back for me?" Kowalski thought for a minute, then shrugged.

"Cancun is in Mexico," he replied. "If you fly it's a few days away from here, and your mother could be anywhere by now if she left several days ago. At the very least, it's going to be a while before she can make it back here. You obviously can't stay out here alone..." Kowalski mused. "You'll come back with me." Eggy seemed to be torn between excitement, apprehension, and depression.

"Is it really OK?" he hesitated.

"Of course it is!" Kowalski said reassuringly. "You're welcome any time, and I'm sure that the others will be happy to see you again! You never did finish your training last time..."

* * *

So Kowalski and Eggy made their way back to the base, where Private was busy entertaining zoo patrons by flipping around, diving, waving, and generally being cute and cuddly, while Rico and Skipper were probably busy coming up with something else that was likely crazy and dangerous to keep the zoo safe. The youngest penguin saw Kowalski approach with his young charge and immediately dived down into the lair.

"Kowalski's back!" he exclaimed. Skipper and Rico looked up from their blueprints, thoroughly confused.

"So?" Skipper asked. "Were you not expecting him to come back?" Private shook his head.

"No! That's not it! Kowalski's back, and he has Eggy with him!" THAT caught Skipper's attention.

"Shouldn't he have gone south for the winter by now?"

"I don't know-" Private replied. "Do ducks migrate?"

"Of course ducks migrate!" Skipper looked like he was about to continue on with his explanation when, speak of the devil, Kowalski and said duck walked into the room.

"Braaawk!" Rico coughed in greeting.

"Hello Kowalski. Nice to see you again, Eggy!" Private said. Skipper got up from the table and walked over to the both of them.

"Kowalski, why is this duckling not with his mother? By now all the ducks in New York should have migrated for the winter!" Eggy looked as though he really wanted to say something different, but seemed to catch himself before he said it.

"Excuse me, sir," he said, instead. "I was informed that my mom must have left for the migration and left me behind. Requesting permission to stay here until she comes back, sir!" Kowalski looked to Skipper, who looked, for once, to be at a loss for words.

"She _left_ him?" he finally spluttered. "The same mother duck who searched all of Manhattan for him when he was just an egg?"

"I found him curled up in newspaper under a bench, Skipper," Kowalski explained. "I think he must have been there for several days, something he all but confirmed."

"What do you mean, all but confirmed?"

"Well, he won't tell me specifics," Kowalski replied. "I think he doesn't remember."

It took about a nanosecond for Skipper to make up his mind.

"Of course he can stay with us! Private! Go make our guest up a bunk. Rico! Acquire an extra chair for the table, and anything else Eggy might want. Kowalski! Go back out and search the perimeter for any of Eggy's siblings in case they were left behind too. And Eggy," he finally said, turning to the duckling. "Come with me. We need to assess your commando skills. You've still been practicing, right?"

"Yes sir!" the duckling said, with a salute, showing the first sign of anything resembling excitement all day. "And I'm sure that I'll only get better, since I'm learning from the best!" Skipper couldn't hold back a huge, pleased grin. After the whole King Julian/Eggy trying to take down the entire zoo debacle, he hadn't been sure whether or not the ducking would keep up with his training, especially since he faced such strong opposition from his mother. But it seemed as though the little guy hadn't let that get him down, and was still well on his way to becoming one of the greatest commandos the world had ever seen.

"Excellent!" the penguin commander finally said, clapping his flippers together. "Now, let's see what you've learned!"

To Be Continued

* * *

At the time of writing, this story has seven chapters, although that is subject to change while I type up the rest of this story.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Don't you think it's strange that Eggy's mum just left him like that?" Private asked Rico. The two of them were busily trying to set up a place for the duckling to stay, and after a few minor technical difficulties (Rico had trouble coughing up the bedsheets for Eggy's bunk and thought for a moment that he'd be stuck with half a lacy pink pillowcase hanging out of his beak all day), things were going smoothly, and the two penguins had time to talk. "I mean, like Skipper said, she went all over the city looking for him! Don't you think it's suspicious that she left him behind for migration?"

"Uh-huh," Rico replied/

"You don't think something bad happened to them, do you?" Private asked, his eyes lighting up with fear. "What if Miss Kitka ate them?"

"Araaawk," Rico said dubiously. "Skwak braawk ark..."

"Yes, you're right," Private amended. "She probably wouldn't do that. But what about her falcon friends? They're not all good like her! One of them even tried to eat King Julian! What would stop them from eating some cute... adorable... ducklings..." It was obvious from the look on his face that Private had traumatized himself, so Rico placed a comforting flipper around the smaller penguin's shoulders.

"Uh-uh," he said, shaking his head. Private turned to look at him.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Skwak," Rico replied, nodding. Somewhat reassured, Private got back to work.

"Yes, you're right," he said. "Mama Duck and the ducklings are probably on their way to the beach in Mexico right now! And soon enough they'll notice that they left Eggy behind and come back for him!"

"Uh-huh," Rico nodded, watching as Private went about his duties with renewed confidence. He never noticed Rico furrow his beak nervously, concern clouding his eyes.

* * *

"You mean the little duckling that tried to beat everyone up is back?" Marlene asked, surprised. "And you let him come back! After all of that?"

"Well, it _was_ Skipper's idea in the first place..." Kowalski muttered before shaking his head. Now wasn't the time to rehash past events- he needed intel (and not the computer processors), and he needed it immediately. "Don't worry. It won't happen again. I was wondering- have you seen any ducks around here lately?" The otter looked confused.

"No... wouldn't have ducks already gone south for the winter?" she asked. Kowalski shrugged.

"That's what we though, but it seems that Eggy was left behind. Considering how protective Mama Duck is of her children, we think something sinister might have happened." Marlene gave a nervous chuckle.

"You penguins are so paranoid," she said, although it was clear that Kowalski's observation was unnerving to her as well. "Mama Duck must have just accidentally left him. You've seen it with the humans... one of the kids gets separated and a little while later one of the parents comes to pick him or her up." Kowalski nodded, then looked pensive.

"But how many of those kids stay separated for days? With the exception of that little girl who's parents abandoned her here how many kids are left alone for so long?"

"What? You mean this has been going on longer than just today?" Marlene looked shocked. "How long has he been alone?"

"He won't say, but judging from the state of things when I found him, at least five days," Kowalski replied grimly. The otter nodded.

"I haven't seen any ducks around here. I'm pretty sure they all left already, but I'll keep an eye out. You might want to go ask around some more, though. Bada and Bing might have seen something, or the badger sisters, they know just about everything that goes on in this zoo. I'll certainly look around, though."

"Thanks, Marlene," Kowalski said. Marlene smiled.

"And if you're sure that he's not going to try to beat me up again, bring Eggy by, OK? I'd like to see him again."

"Will do," Kowalski saluted before exiting the otter habitat. He might as well continue his sweep of the zoo... Marlene was right, Bada and Bing might have seen something happen, Phil and Mason tended to have a good grip on what went down in the zoo, and like Marlene said, one of those perkily bipolar badger twins probably knew _something_, considering how much they liked to get up in everyone's business.

* * *

"You... weren't kidding... when you said... you'd kept up... with your training," Skipper panted, lying flat on his back after sparring with Eggy for a good two hours. "You're making... me... feel old!" Eggy hadn't fared much better, however, having collapsed into a chair once they were finished.

"You didnt go... easy.. either, sir?" he panted. "I'm tired!" Skipper laughed.

"And you should be, after all that effort you showed. You're pretty good, but a few things need some work. When you execute the North Canadian Chokehold, for example, your form is all wrong. Don't feel bad, it's an easy mistake to make, but you should focus on correcting it, or you could dislocate your wing. And it's generally not a good idea to attack with your beak, unless what you're attacking is dinner! If your enemy has a weapon you could get seriously injured. But we'll work on all that tomorrow. That's enough for today, we don't want you getting too tired." Eggy seemed kind of disappointed, so Skipper ruffled his feathers in a reassuring way.

"It's only you're first day, we don't want to push you too far," he said. "Do you have any questions?" Eggy looked as though there was something he desperately wanted to say, and even managed to get out a squeaky "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"...never mind. It's nothing," the duckling seemed to lose his nerve, something that did not go unnoticed by the penguin.

"Are you sure?" Skipper asked. "I'll help you if there's anything you need to know right now." Again, Eggy seemed to be trying to gather his courage, but failed again to pull himself together.

"Don't worry, sir. I'm sorry, sir. It's nothing."

To Be Continued

Author's Comments:

So is acting up right now... seems like whenever I try to access a chapter in a story or my profile (well, anyone's profile, really) I'm getting errors. I wonder if the server is having problems?

Well, anyway, thanks for reading.

-Kaboom


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After a relatively enjoyable evening and a dinner of ice-cold sushi, Eggy went to sleep completely exhausted. And the four penguins gathered around the table to discuss their options. "Marlene doesn't know anything," Kowalski admitted. "The badgers haven't seen any ducks in weeks, Joey told me the same thing after he kicked me in the head, and Phil and Mason don't know anything either. As far as anyone in this zoo knows, there are no ducks in New York City at this point in time."

"I was wondering," Private began nervously. "What if Miss Kitka knows something?" Skipper looked like he was about to interrupt, so Private rushed to finish his statements. "I'm not saying that she ate them, but what if she knows if another falcon did?"

"Braaaawk," Rico croaked in agreement. Skipper shook his head.

"I thought we all learned our lesson about not judging a book by its cover. But if it makes you feel better we'll go talk to Miss Kitka tomorrow."

"Skipper, do you think we're just being paranoid?" Kowalski asked. "What if there really _isn't_ anything going on, and it really was just an accident that Eggy got left behind? Marlene was saying-" here Skipper cut him off.

"Marlene is always saying something. Are you going to let her twisted head games get in the way of our objective? Listen to me- all of you! We're going to find Eggy's mom and in the meantime, he will continue to train with us. Something's going on around this zoo. Mama Duck would never leave one of her children behind! So here's the plan..."

* * *

Unknown to the penguins, little ears had overheard the conversation. Eggy shuffled around nervously. In his heart of hearts, he _knew_ he should tell the penguins what had happened. He knew they just wanted to help him and figure out what had happened- what had led to the duckling sheltering under a park bench for several days. But he couldn't forget the hate and rage that had burned, festering behind that giant fish's eyes when it had taken away his family. And he couldn't forget the cruel words that the..._ thing_ had whispered in his ear. "Tell _anyone_ what happened here and your _entire family_ gets it, starting with your mother." Eggy shuddered.

No, falcons had not eaten his mother and his siblings. Instead, they had all been busy preparing for the migration nearly a week and a half ago when a large fish-thing that could somehow make it onto land drove up on a Segway scooter. He had been very polite at first, introducing himself as "Dr." something- Eggy couldn't quite remember. But he had asked for directions to some important human landmark- the Statue of Freedom or Liberty or something like that. When Mama Duck didn't know what he was talking about, the giant fish had flown into a psychotic rage and gathered up all of Eggy's family, trapping them in a cage he'd managed to get off the back of his scooter. Eggy dodged in time, but the rest of his family hadn't gotten the same training he had as an egg, and weren't able to avoid the crashing, clanging metal of the cage. He had been terrified that the fish would go after him next, but instead, he just leaned down and whispered into the duckling's ear.

"Tell _anyone_ what happened here and your _entire family_ gets it, starting with your mother," the fish had hissed. "And trust me, little one, I _will_ find out. I know everything. You don't want your siblings to be dinner for some hungry animal, now, do you?" Eggy had shook his head vigorously.

"No, sir," he said quickly. The fish-thing just smirked.

"Good. I knew you'd see reason. I especially do not want those infernal penguins to find out. They'll ruin everything. Keep that in mind, if you want your family to stay alive. Ciao!" And with that, the creature roared off into the distance, taking Eggy's hysterically screaming family with him.

For the next week and a half, Eggy had kept himself hidden well. He took shelter under the park bench at night, missing his mother's fluffy wings to cuddle under for warmth. He missed playing with his siblings in the water. And he missed having decent food. He'd been keeping himself alive by eating worms that occasionally popped out of the ground, and by trying to eat some of the vegetation he'd seen other creatures eating. But it didn't satisfy him. What he wouldn't give for a tasty snail, or some fish.

When Kowalski found him that morning, at first, Eggy had been ecstatic. If anyone could help him, the penguins could. He had been about to ask for Kowalski's help when his family's kidnapper's words barreled through his head like a runaway freight train. Instead of the duckling asking for help from someone who he knew _could_ help, he fed the penguin some half-baked story about missing the migration to Cancún. At first, it seemed like the penguins bought it, but as Eggy wasn't surprised to eee, they were beginning to see through it. Anyone who knew Mama Duck would know that she wouldn't leave one of her ducklings behind, _ever_, much less for something as major as the yearly migration.

Nervously, Eggy tiptoed back to bed, hoping and praying that the penguins would see through his pathetic lie soon. It made him feel horrible, lying the way he had, but he was afraid. Afraid of what that insane creature would do to his family, and afraid of what the penguins would think of him once they found out. After they had been so kind to him, here he was feeding them this line of complete crap. At least, he hoped, they would understand why it had been necessary.

* * *

"Mama, do you think Eggy is going to save us?" one of the ducklings asked her mother. The entire family (minus Eggy, of course) was huddled together for warmth in their cage, suspended high above Dr. Blowhole's lair. The insane dolphin hadn't detailed his plans for the ducks, but whatever they were, they couldn't be good. Mama Duck sighed, bringing her daughter closer to her.

"Rose, what could Eggy possibly do? He's only a little boy," she said.

"But mom!" one of her sons exclaimed. "He's got those mad commando skills! He could bust in here any moment and save us!" The other ducklings nodded in agreement. But Mama Duck was firm.

"I certainly hope that Eggy doesn't try to come here. He could get hurt! Don't worry, kids, it's only a matter of time before someone comes to help us."

Down below, Dr. Blowhole snickered, having heard every word. "Don't count on it," he muttered as he went through some paperwork. "If that little duck does what he's supposed to, he'll open those penguins right up to my attack! Then I'll grab them and put them up there with you. Then my _real_ plan can begin!" He started to chuckle maniacally to himself, causing some of his crab henchmen to scuttle out of the way quickly. _They _knew better than to go anywhere near the boss when he was in Crazy Psycho mode.

To Be Continued

Authors' Comments:

Before anyone says anything to me about "DOLPHINS ARE NOT FISH, STUPID!"- I know that. Dolphins are mammals. But Eggy, never having seen a dolphin before, thought Dr. Blowhole looked like one, and not having a schema for "dolphin," put him into the "fish" category.

And now the truth comes out about what really happened to the ducks, although our favorite penguins don't know it yet. Don't worry, things will be getting more exciting soon. This is a relatively short story, though, so we're about at the halfway point, at least in my current plans.

I also apologize for the lateness in getting this out. I had some other stories I wanted to work on, I've been dealing with a dispute with my neighbors which is taking up quite a lot of my time, and may be going to a Resident Life panel, which is basically court for university students. I really hope it doesn't come to that, because that means I'll have even less time to myself, but whatever. If it means the constant destructive partying and complete disregard for personal space they've displayed stops, then I'd gladly go to an actual court. In fact, I haven't completely ruled that out, not after they allowed their friends access to my living space through the connecting door and destroyed my printer in drunken idiocy. But that's enough about my personal issues. Especially because you came here to read fic, not listen to me complain about my obnoxious neighbors.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope to have the next chapter out sooner, but don't be surprised if it takes almost a month again. Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Kaboom


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

But, as everyone knows, the best-laid plans of penguins and men often go awry. Over the next few days, it seemed as though the universe (or the Sky Spirits) didn't want _anyone_ going to the Consolidated-Amalgamated building to speak to the falcon, because all of New York City was assaulted with the worst wind and rain in half a century. Leaving the zoo would be tantamount to suicide, so the penguins and Eggy stayed in and trained.

It was obvious to anyone with working eyes and half a brain that Eggy was still the insanely talented commando duckling that he had been the last time he'd been in the zoo. But it also didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there was something seriously wrong with the small duckling. His mind seemed to be a million miles away while he was awake, and two million miles away when he slept. More than once, Private was awoken by the duckling yelling incomprehensibly in his sleep. It was obvious that he really needed to talk to someone, but none of the penguins' attempts to get him to open up ever got anywhere.

"Eggy, you've got to get your head in the game!" Skipper admonished when the duckling bungled a relatively easy training exercise. "Is there something bothering you? This is the sixth time you've messed up today!"

"No sir," Eggy lied, feeling horrible about it. The penguins had been nothing but kind to him, and here he was repaying their hospitality by lying through his beak. Skipper didn't look like he believed Eggy's denials, but seemed to let it go.

"We might as well stop for today," the penguin said. "But you do know that any one of us is willing to help you if you ever just want to talk to someone. These past few days have likely been very upsetting for you."

"Yes," Eggy agreed, feeling even worse about hiding what he knew. But he wasn't going to put his family in danger by disobeying that psychotic fish-thing's orders.

Although the duckling wasn't fooling anyone with his "everything's OK" act, they all decided to drop it. Except for Private. The youngest penguin knew that something was up, but like the others, decided not to press the issue directly. Instead, he tried something else- he took the duckling to visit Marlene and her badger cousins for an evening snack.

"Becky, Stacy, this is Eggy," Private introduced, making sure he was sort of behind Marlene the whole time (even though he could now count the badger sisters among his friends, he still took a little time to warm up to them. Once he was sure that they weren't planning on attacking him he was able to be more comfortable around them). Of course, Becky and Stacy squee'd over Eggy immediately.

"Ohmigosh, he's sooooooooo cute, Private!" Becky gushed. "Oh, I could just eat you up!"

"Do you live here in the zoo?" Stacy asked. "Because we totally could have, like, slumber parties and stuff!"

"Well, ma'am, I usually live in Central Park, but because my family was- my family left for the migration without me," Eggy caught himself before he accidentally let the truth slip out, something that did not slip past the notice of Becky and Stacy.

"Your family was what?" Stacy asked curiously.

"I meant that they left me behind," the duckling said quickly.

"Nuh-uh! You said that your family was something. What was it?" Becky replied. Eggy looked over at Private, as though silently asking for backup. But Private seemed to be on the side of the badger sisters, and even seemed to get over his mild case of badger paranoia to come out from behind Marlene.

"Eggy, you've been acting strangely for the past few days. I thought you were just upset that your mum migrated without you, but that doesn't make sense. Your mum would never leave you behind, and if she did, she'd realize it very quickly and come back for you. Something else happened, didn't it?"

"N-no!" Eggy stammered out quickly.

"You know you can tell us anything," Marlene said kindly. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you with all of us here.

"Yeah, you can, like, tell us anything!" Becky exclaimed.

"We can keep a secret," Stacy added. "We won't tell anyone."

"I can't! I can't!" Eggy burst out sobbing. "I can't tell you anything or he'll hurt my mom! He'll hurt my brothers and sisters! I can't say anything or the fish-thing will hurt them!" Immediately, the duckling drew back as though he had been burned and clamped a wing over his beak, horrified. Private looked contemplative.

"A fish-thing? How could a fish-thing kidnap your family? Fish can't go on land!"

"Yeah, really!" Becky said. "They drown on the land!"

"No, stupid, they don't drown! They suffocate!" her sister rolled her eyes. Marlene sighed heavily.

"Can we get back to the issue at hand? Eggy, can you describe more about this fish-thing you're telling us about?" she cut across her cousins. "We can't help you if we don't have the facts."

"I don't know!" Eggy finally yelled. "He had a scooter and stuff! He told me that he'd hurt my family if I told anyone especially the penguins..." Private sucked in his breath upon this revelation.

"Dr. Blowhole..." he whispered.

"Huh?" all three females and Eggy asked in unison.

"Dr. Blowhole!" Private repeated emphatically. "The evil dolphin super villain bent on wreaking revenge on the humans! He must have targeted Eggy's family to get to us!" Marlene laughed out loud.

"Not this again," she complained. "Dolphin super-villains? I've told you before that you penguins are too paranoid to function!"

"No, he's right, "Stacy suddenly said. "I read it in a book once. There's an evil dolphin that wants revenge. He hates humans because they used to make him jump around and stuff for their entertainment! Now the only thing that will make him happy is total annhilation of the human race!"

"Really, Stacy, that was a book, probably a novel. The whole point of a novel is that they're not real," Marlene's patience was wearing thin. "There's no such thing as dolphin super-villains."

"I believe him," Becky interrupted before her cousin could continue on with her tirade about naïve badgers and paranoid penguin commandos. "Eggy has no reason to lie to us. I'm in. What can we do, Private?"

To Be Continued

Author's Comments:

So. Something amazing happened to me today. I got Penguins of Madagascar Silly Bandz. You know, the shaped rubber bands? I wore them to my shift at work and to class and people kept asking to see them. I got a few strange looks from people (when you get to be my age, you're not supposed to be watching cartoons. I say- whatever! I do as I please), but others thought they were awesome. The rest of the day wasn't so awesome- Resident Life pushed back the date of my panel another two weeks, so that means that the issues I've been having are going to keep going on for a while. I just want compensation for the stuff they destroyed. I also probably failed my Spanish midterm, the same one I've been studying for like a crazy woman. Oh well. That's life. And remember people- if you're in university, or you're going to go to university- don't stay up all night online and _study!_ It will save you headaches in the long run.

-Kaboom


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"WHAT?" Skipper practically screamed at the assembled group, getting ready to blow a gasket. "What do you mean, Eggy's family was kidnapped by Dr. Blowhole? He told us that his family left for Cancun for the migration! Eggy wouldn't lie to us!"

"But Skipper-" Private began before the leader cut him off.

"No buts, Private, I want to hear it from Eggy himself! Did you lie to us about your family leaving for the migration?" Tearfully, the little duckling nodded.

"I... I'm sorry, sir," he choked out. "But he said he'd hurt my mom if I told anyone, especially you! I- I didn't know what to do."

"Give him a break," Marlene said. "He was afraid! I don't believe all this evil dolphin supervillian stuff, but _something_ has him scared out of his mind!" Kowalski nodded.

"Dr. Blowhole is a serious threat, and it's a bad idea to take anything he says as a bluff..."

"Blaargh," Rico agreed.

"Alright, alright, the kid had legitimate reasons for not saying anything. But he should have known that nothing will happen to him _or_ his family, not on my watch!"

"Kaboom?" Rico aked hopefully, caughing up several sticks of unlit dynamite. Marlene and the badger sisters shrank back.

"Is that really totally necessary?" Becky asked.

"Yeah, doesn't dynamite like, explode?" Stacy added.

"Yes, ladies, it is necessary," Skipper replied confidently. "Dr. Blowhole is a pure evil, cruel, unadulterated villian! Dynamite is necessary more than ever now that we know we're facing him!"

"So... Kaboom kaboom?" Rico asked again, more impatiently this time. Skipper grinned.

"Yes Rico, _kaboom._"

* * *

In the end, Kowalski ended up giving the girls a crash course on what to expect while facing down the evil Dr. Blowhole. Becky and Stacy were very eager to help, Becky even going so far as to say "What kind of jerkbag would kidnap the family of an adorable duckling?"

"We'll kick his butt!" Stacy added, her hackles already raised.

"Ladies, fighting Dr. Blowhole isn't something you just rush into willy-nilly!" Kowalski tried to say, but both of the badger sisters pretty much ignored him, already lost in their own world of plans for how they were going to get little Eggy's family back safely.

Private and Rico immediately got to work gathering arms. Rico swallowed pretty much an entire crate of dynamite while Private perused the extensive collection of weapons Skipper had collected over the years, as well as Kowalski's collection of inventions, ranging from the mildly annoying to the postively lethal.. Eventually, he decided on a rather impressive arsenal, and for transport, Rico ate those all, too.

Skipper, meanwhile, had taken Eggy aside to have very serious conversation with him. "Every minute you didn't tell us what had really happened, your mother was put in more danger," he said. "I know that Dr. Blowhole is scary- terrifying, even! But you do know that he's no match for us, right? We would never let him hurt you, your mother, or your siblings. We are going to find them, and we will get them back safely." Eggy nodded, contrite.

"I'm sorry, sir... I was so scared, and didn't want to show it," the duckling mumbled, shyly.

"There's nothing wrong with being afraid. It's when you let that fear control you that it becomes a problem," Skipper replied, patting Eggy on the head. "Now, let's go save your family, huh?"

* * *

"Mama, what do you think is going to happen to us?" one of the ducklings whispered quietly to Mama Duck. The older duck glanced around, worried that the psychotic dolphin may have overheard. He seemed to hate it when any of the kidnapped ducks made any noise whatsoever, and often reacted violently. Luckily, it seemed as though Dr. Blowhole hadn't overheard anything, and Mama Duck sighed very quietly.

"I don't know, baby," she murmured. "Whatever happens, though, I want you to know that I love you."

"Awwww... now isn't that just adorable?" a mocking voice taunted. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you, at least not yet." Dr. Blowhole suddenly loomed up next to the cage and offered the ducks a rather alarming smirk. "Humans _love_ ducklings, you know. In a few days I'll be taking your children out into the city. As soon as the humans stop to go 'awww.' thet's when I'll strike. No more will the humans underestimate me! Sea creatures didn't work... baby ducks will!"

"But what if they get hurt?" Mama Duck was horrified.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," the dolphin shrugged. "It's not like I can't get more ducklings." One of the baby ducks began to cry, hiding under his mother's wing.

"Mama, I don't want to!" he sobbed.

"Sssh... don't worry, baby, it's not going to happen." Despite her brave words, Mama Duck was crying too. That evil, evil dolphin. Obviously he didn't care what happened to her children, and from the way he talked it was almost like he expected them to die in the line of duty. They were just children! How could he? How could he sleep at night?

"She's right, you know," a different voice said. The ducks and Dr. Blowhole all turned in shock. A rather ragtag group of creatures was standing in the wreckage of the door to the dolphin's lair, a psychotically laughing penguin waving a disentigration gun around maniacally.

"Kaboom kaboom kaboom!" he laughed. A badger looked at him, exasperated.

"Rico, we didn't actually blow anything up," Stacy sighed. Rico glared at her.

"Wharrblargh ark awk KABOOM!" he insisted.

"OK, OK, fine, we blew it up," the badger finally said.

Dr. Blowhole surveyed the newcomers. Well, this was unexpected. But he was willing to write it off as the penguins being nosy, meddling varmints, until he noticed the duckling standing proudly next to the tallest penguin. And his face darkened.

"That... that _duckling_ betrayed me! I specifically told him not to tell anyone, especially not those penguins! And you- duckling! Prepare to see your mother die for your disobedience!" he began laughing maniacally, giving Skipper an opportunity to turn to his team.

"Let's do this," he said, clapping his flippers together.

To Be Continued

Author's Comments:

Ugh, I can already tell this is going to be a long night. I'm sick (probably with the flu), and my idiot neighbors are back to having one of their stupid all-night whatevers next door. Not much I can do, though, with the possible exception of going over there and infecting them.

Anyway, we're down to two more chapters left to this story. The next update probably won't be for another week or so, because I really do need to prepare for my Resident Life hearing regarding my stupid neighbors on the 11th. Anyway, thanks for reading.

By the way, writing Rico's dialog where he says "kaboom" was weird for me. I felt like I was writing my Internet name over and over again. :P

-Kaboom


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

If anything, however, Dr. Blowhole didn't take the imminent promise of pain from the penguins seriously. Instead, he started howling with laughter. "You seem to forget something, _penguin,_" he spat, once he got himself under control. "I'm the one with the ducks!" Reaching over to the table, he picked up a small remote control. "It's a pity that the little ones will have to die before I could put my plan into action, but I suppose that's the price the other one will have to pay for disobeying me. I told him not to tell anyone what really happened... oh well." Becky and Stacy raised their hackles in fury, and the penguins took a defensive position.

"You're pathetic," Stacy growled, baring her teeth at the Blowhole. "You'd kill children over some stupid grudge you have against the penguins?"

"And you have the nerve to think you're some kind of mastermind?" Becky added contemptuously. "If you were _really_ dangerous you wouldn't have to hurt bystanders just to prove how tough you are."

"The more you try to prove yourself this way, it just becomes clearer and clearer how lame you are," Stacy continued. "If you're a real threat you'll fight like a man instead of hiding behind your hostages. Come at us, if you think you're so tough!"

Eggy was shocked. The badger sisters had seemed nice enough to him, albeit kind of hyperactive and excitable, and maybe not necessarily the brightest bulbs in the chandelier. But this... he'd never expected them to stick up for his family his way, not when they'd never even met them! A quick glance around showed that the penguins, with the exception of Private, were thinking along the same lines.

"I _told_ you badgers were scary!" Private whispered to Rico.

"Uh-huh," the mostly-mute penguin pyromaniac replied in affirmative.

One who was not impressed, however, was Dr. Blowhole. "What can you silly little girls know about anything?" he asked. "What do you know of my motives?"

"We know enough to know that your focus is in the wrong place! Those ducks didn't do anything to you!" Stacy spat. Blowhole just grinned maniacally.

"We'll see about that," he said, pressing a button on the remote. A metal door in the wall opened up, producing a very large, snarling, sharp-toothed monstrosity of a dog. Everyone flinched, especially Private, the memory of Mr. Chew fresh in their minds. But this dog was at least four times the size of Mr. Chew, and looked to be about twice as psychotic.

"Spot hungry! Spot bored! Spot want food!" it barked.

"Spot, do you like ducks?" Blowhole asked viciously.

"Spot like ducks! Spot like to bite ducks! Spot like to shake ducks until they quack then fall! Spot think ducks taste good!" the monster dog growled. Up above, one of Eggy's siblings screamed in terror, drawing the creature's attention to the trapped water-fowl. Almost immediately, it started slobbering even more.

"Ducks for Spot? Spot eat ducks?" it asked. Blowhole nodded, lowering the cage down to ground level and opening the door with the remote, leaving the ducks completely exposed to attack.

"You can do what you want with them," the evil dolphin said. "And when you're done with that you can eat some penguins."

"Spot like ducks!" the dog barked. Mama Duck closed her eyes.

"Kids, get behind me. While that thing is distracted, I want you to make a run for it."

"Mama!" Eggy cried in despair, realizing that she intended to sacrifice herself to save his siblings. "Mama, no!" Suddenly, he felt a flipper on his head, and looked up to see Rico patting him comfortingly, a determined look on his face.

"Kaboom," the penguin said, right before hacking up a stick of dynamite. But before he had a chance to light it, a snarling ball of fur launched itself at the dog.

It took a few seconds before anyone realized that the snarling ball of fur was Becky, who was clawing at the dog's face. Apparently, one swipe must have hit its target, because the monstrosity reared back, howling in pain.

"Big mouse hurt Spot!" it yowled.

"I'm actually a badger," Becky replied cheerfully, closing back in for another attack.

While Becky was distracting the dog, Private and Stacy made their way over to the terrified duck family. "It's alright," Stacy said kindly. "My sister knows what she's doing- that dog won't be able to get close to you."

"We won't hurt you," Private reassured them, extending a flipper. "We'll get you to safety."

"No you won't," Blowhole growled, looming up behind the penguin and badger, just as Spot managed to shake Becky loose, sending her flying across the room, smashing into a wall. "Those ducks are mine!"

"Spot want eat ducks!" the monster dog barked, coming to stand next to Blowhole, effectively cornering the ducks, Private, and Stacy. "Spot want eat weird chicken and big mouse too!"

"Kowalski! I need options!" Skipper barked. Kowalski urgently ran through ideas in his mind, each coming up with certain failure. He saw no way out of the situation they had backed themselves into.

"I... I don't know," he finally said. Skipper didn't like that at all.

"Think, man, _think! _There's got to be _something!"_

Meanwhile, Rico and Eggy were planning something. "Braawk swkak," Rico explained, coughing up a small bomb and a lighter. "Swkaaaaak ark ark skwak braawk KABOOM!"

"Got it," Eggy whispered, taking the weapons and sneaking up behind Blowhole. Rico just smirked darkly.

"Heh heh... kaboom kaboom!" he exclaimed, detonating a stick of dynamite behind Spot, to distract it. It worked.

"Spot hear loud noise!" the dog yelled.

"Kaboom kaboom kaboom!" the pyromaniac laughed, setting off a number of charges, effectively dazing the monstrosity. In its confused stupor, Spot stumbled around for a bit before crashing head-first into the stone wall, knocking itself out cold.

"NO!" Blowhole screamed in rage.

"This is for trying to hurt my mom," Eggy whispered, lighting the bomb and dropping it onto the furious dolphin. "Never touch my family again!"

The resulting explosion shook the very foundations of the building. "It's going to collapse!" Kowalski yelled. "EVERYONE GET OUT NOW!"

"What about Becky?" Stacy cried, seeing her sister unconscious all the way across the room. "I won't leave her!"

"Leave it to me, ma'am," Skipper said, inclining his head towards the badger, before charging headlong through the falling debris. "All of you, get out while you have the chance! I'll meet you outside, with Becky!"

To Be Completed

Author's Comments:

Ugh. I really need to be studying, not writing... finals are next week and I know I'm going to fail philosophy if I don't get started now... bleh.

Anyway, the next chapter will be the last, and I'm sorry this one took so long to get out, almost a month. The reason for this? I misplaced the draft, and found it last night.

Thanks for reading!

-Kaboom


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

In the resulting scramble to evacuate Dr. Blowhole's lair before it collapsed, no one really bothered to make sure that the dog and dolphin were brought to safety, with the slight exception of Private, who looked back at them, just before the building collapsed. He saw Skipper drag the unconscious Becky out, leaving behind Spot, who was lying on its side, eyes closed, and Dr. Blowhole, who didn't look much better off. Blowhole groaned, dazed from the blast. Too late, he realized that his lair was about to collapse on top of him, and just as he released a surprised shout, several tons of debris descended on top of him and his pet.

"Is he... dead?" Private asked a few minutes later, after the collapse was finished.

"Probably," Kowalski replied. "Very few creatures could survive that amount of weight and pressure falling down onto them. I think it's safe to say that Blowhole and that demon dog of his are dead."

"Excuse me if I'm not sorry to hear that," Skipper replied dispassionately. "Not when _this_ happened." He waved a flipper at the rest of the team. Private looked around and realized- their side had not escaped without damages either. Rico had been hit with a falling chunk of concrete and was wandering around, a dazed expression on his face. Becky seemed to have the worst of the damage- she was still unconscious, and several serious abrasions to her skin were bleeding profusely. Being slammed into a wall the way she had definitely hadn't done her any favors.

Mama Duck hadn't gotten away unscathed, either. Spot had managed to chomp her, but at least the damage was relatively superficial. As long as she didn't try to fly on her wounded wing until it was fully healed she would be alright in a few weeks. And Stacy seemed to be in a state of shell-shock.

"Nnn..." Becky began to stir.

"Don't move around!" Kowalski barked, hurrying to her side. "You have a concussion!"

"I don't care!" Becky practically yelled, sitting bolt upright and looking around wildly. "Where are the ducklings? Are they OK?"

"You're only going to hurt yourself more! Lie back already, before you permanently shake your brains loose!" Kowalski exclaimed. "The ducks are fine, and Blowhole and the dog are under three tons of debris. They won't be coming after anyone anytime soon."

"Yes, we are mostly fine," Mama Duck said, approaching the badger. "Thanks to your help we were able to escape that horrible dolphin and his pet."

"Yeah, you saved us!" one of Eggy's brothers chimed in. "That was awesome, how you attacked the monster! You rock, lady!" Becky had to smile at that, even though it made a cut on her face hurt. It seemed as though she made an impression on the little guy.

"You really should be thanking your brother," she replied. "It was thanks to Eggy that we found out where you were, and besides, he was the one that brought down the dolphin."

"Yeah, but you attacked the monster!" the duckling reiterated. Clearly he felt that Becky was the true savior.

Mama Duck, on the other hand, remained pensive, cradling her damaged wing. "I can't fly like this," she muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. "By the time it heals I won't be able to migrate. The weather will be too bad." Skipper shot her a look.

"Did you really think that we'd expect you to go on that long migration in the state you're in?"

"But we can't stay in Central Park..." Mama Duck began worriedly.

"Blargh awk brawk," Rico said. Mama Duck, being unable to speak Rico-ese, looked to Skipper for clarification.

"That's not a bad idea... not a bad idea at all," the penguin commander said, before turning back to the duck. "Rico has suggested that you and your family spend the winter with us, in our habitat. It will probably be colder than what you're used to, but there is plenty of food, and none of the men will have a problem with it- right?" he asked sharply, turning to the rest of his team.

"Yes, please," Private added. "Feel free to stay with us! I'll even get out my special stash of Peanut Butter Winkys to share!"

"Braaawk," Rico agreed.

"I could always use some extra help with inventing," Kowalski added, nodding his head. "And it would be educational for the children!"

The Next Spring

The winter had passed relateively uneventfully. The ducks and penguins settled into a comfortable routine, and after hearing accounts from the penguins, the badger sisters, _and_ the ducks, Marlene was forced to admit the existance of Dr. Blowhole. No one was completely sure whether or not the psychopathic dolphin had survived the blast, but since no one had seen hide nor hair of him, no one worried about it too much.

Becky and Mama Duck healed well, until it wasn't apparent that either of them had been injured. Eggy had a great time following the penguins on their missions. Rico made a new friend in Eggy's sister Fluffy, who was quite the little pyromaniac, as everyone found out when she blew up dinner one night.

"Hoover Dam!" Skipper yelled, dodging flying fish guts. "What happened?" Private peeked out from under the table.

"Rico! You're not supposed to light dynamite inside!" The other penguin shrugged, as if to say, "Wasn't me, dude." Instead, he pointed to a small, fuzzy duckling who giggled.

"I asked Mr. Rico for a stick of dynamite! That was fun, can I do it again?" she asked.

"OK," Rico replied, coughing up another stick of dynamite, which Skipper promptly grabbed.

"Cut that out!" he ordered, then turned to Fluffy. "Honey, it's OK if you want to blow things up, but you shouldn't do it inside. Do you remember what happened with Dr. Blowhole's lair? This place is reinforced, but a big enough charge could send it falling down as well. If you want to blow things up, do it outside. I'll have Rico officially start your training tomorrow." Fluffy looked positively overjoyed, while Mama Duck looked terrified.

"What if she gets hurt?" she asked nervously. Kowalski shrugged.

"Compared to what you went through, having Fluffy trained in explosives by Rico looks like naptime," he said. "And Rico might be crazy, but he won't let her get hurt." And even Mama Duck was forced to admit that having her children trained in combat might not be such a bad idea after all. Even if no more dolphins came after them, it still would be good training against predators.

Eggy's brother Waddles, on the other hand, took to inventing like a fish takes to water. Together, he and Kowalski built a robot vacuum, which did admittedly kind of malfunction (causing Private much despair when he realized that the rampaging robot vacuum had sucked up his Peanut Butter Winkys), but it did make a good lemur guard, considering King Julian was terrified of It, after it tried to vacuum up his tail.

"Keep that thing away from the Royal Tail!" he yelled. "It's even worse than Mort and his feet obsession!" Waddles just looked at Kowalski.

"Is he always like that?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Downy, another sister, spent a lot of time with the badgers. She started acting like them, talking like them, and even trying to plan spontaneous events like them, all of which Mama Duck found rather frustrating. "At least she's not blowing things up like Fluffy," Marlene tried to comfort her. Mama Duck just sighed.

"My sons and one daughter are becoming commandos, and my other daughter has become so... I don't even have a word for it!" she exclaimed.

"Intense?" Marlene suggested.

"Exactly,"

The other duck children followed their siblings' examples, but didn't get as involved in training. In fact, one of them expressed disdain for their siblings' new passions.

"Seriously, at least with Eggy it sort of made sense, but this is getting crazy!" another sister complained to a brother. "Fluffy won't stop blowing things up! It's dangerous to be around her! Mr. Rico made a mistake by giving her dynamite!"

"Tell me about it," the brother replied. "Waddles' vacuum tried to eat me yesterday!"

By the time the winter ended, the penguins were sorry to see the duck family go. "Make sure you come back soon, Webby! Mason and Phil want to continue your reading lessons!"

"Aye-eye, sir!" Webby replied, sticking close to her mother.

"Skwak ark braaaaawk KABOOM!" Rico exclaimed, causing Rose to giggle.

"I will, sir!" she saluted.

"Keep on trying, I'm sure you'll get your freeze-ray calibrated soon enough," Kowalski encouraged Waddles. "And bring itby when you're finished, I want to see how it works."

"Of course, Mr. Kowalski," Waddles replied, clutching said freeze-ray tightly.

"And Eggy-" Skipper began. "When you grow up and can fly, I think it's time you finally get your Penguin Commando License. Which doesn't actually exist. Sorry about that- we were trying to keep you safe on your mother's orders. But you've more than earned your place as the fifth member of our team."

END

Author's Comments:

Sheesh, for a seven-chapter story this took forever to get completed. I blame university and ending up rewriting chapter three several times before I finally decided to post it. Oh well.

I'm not going to lie, this was kind of a chore to write, mostly because it ended up deviating so far from my draft. Seriously, this final product really only has a passing resemblance to the original draft, which I think makes it better, since honestly, my draft was pretty lousy. It also made it quite a bit harder to write, especially the parts with Dr. Blowhole. I also wasn't able to go back and re-watch _Dr. Blowhole's Revenge_ because it was taken off Megavideo, so if I messed anything up, sorry.

Anyway, I need to go take an exam now, so I'm going to end this by wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

-_GoesKaboom 12.9.2010 _


End file.
